Reserves spark US women in romp

MANCHESTER, England — With the first team struggling, Geno Auriemma went to his reserves to turn the game around.

Maya Moore and Lindsay Whalen sparked a 21-0 run to help the U.S. women’s basketball team beat Britain 88-63 on Wednesday night in an exhibition game.

The Americans trailed by 11 points in the first 7 minutesbefore the second unit took over. Moore scored 18 points and Whalen added 13.

“The good thing about them is they are all young and bring tremendous energy to the court,” Auriemma said.

HONOR BESTOWED: Caster Semenya will carry South Africa’s flag at the opening ceremony.

Semenya was given the honor ahead of double-amputee runner Oscar Pistorius.

Semenya underwent controversial gender tests in 2009 as she exploded onto the international scene by winning the world title at the worlds in Berlin. She was sidelined for 11 months while the IAAF reviewed those tests before being cleared in 2010.

SICK FEELING: The Aus­tralian Olympic team says three badminton players got food poisoning at the team’s training camp in England.

Ross Smith, Renuga Veeran and Glenn Warfe missed warm-up matches against the British team after being forced to spend Wednesday in bed in the central city of Derby.

BROKEN PROMISE: Britons might be watching lots of Olympic athletes this summer but they sure aren’t moving more themselves.

When London was awarded the 2012 Summer Olympics seven years ago, officials promised they would get 2 million more people physically active in time for the opening ceremonies.

But when the torch is lit July 27, the government will not only have failed, it will have backed away from its pledge entirely. Last year, the U.K. quietly dropped its aim to get 1 million more Britons into sports.